Which Came First?, comic strip or cartoon?

[Wren]

I thought this would be an interesting topic...some cartoons and comics have the same characters, so it should be interesting to see which came first on various ones. I am willing to bet, for the most part, that most cartoons came from the comic strips, but I am wondering if some were the other way around. :)

As well, if anyone has any dates to share on these this would be great.

[combsisthebest]

I have a specific question that relates to this thread. Was "The Family Circle" cartoon first, or the comic strip? :)

[Ccook]

The comic strip definitely came first. Bil Keane created Family Circus back in the late 50s. There were a couple of animated specials in the 70s.

Popeye made his biggest splash in cartoons, but he began as a comic strip character. The strip, Thimble Theater, was created by Elsie Segar and the star was originally Olive Oyl. Popeye came about in 1929--he was an unnamed sailor-for-hire, unpolished and undisciplined. Segar saw potential in him, and would christen him Popeye with in a year of his debut. He found that people would warm up to the character if he fought but only of he had a root cause to do so--to champion the side of good. In 1934, he was popular enough to start his own theatrical cartoons, and that's where the Fleischer studios came in. Popeye never looked back after that.

Several studios have done Popeye since then. After Fleischers shut down their studios, Paramount's Famous Studios in New Rochelle, N.Y. churned out Popeye cartoons for theaters up to 1956 and for TV in 1961 (as part of the Al Brodax-produced cartoons which were done by several studios). Hal Seegar made a one-hour ABC movie, Popeye Meets The Man Who Hated Laughter in 1972, and Hanna-Barbera would make Popeye for TV in 1978 and 1987. Thimble Theater is still around in comics sections; but with the wide spread of Popeye in animation, his legacy as a comic strip star is truly shrouded.

[Marina]

I think.. cartoon.. Good topic!